PIPPA Middleton is expected to be questioned by French police after an ­investigation was launched yesterday into a gun ­incident in Paris.

The sister of the future Queen is likely to be quizzed after the driver of a car in which she was ­travelling brandished what looked like a semi-automatic pistol in the direction of a photographer in the French capital at the weekend.

If the weapon, trained on a photographer on a moped, turns out to be real, the alleged gunman could face up to seven years in jail.

Pippa and her three friends leave the car after the shocking gun stunt in Paris /wenn.com

Under French law, if Pippa Middleton, 28, and the other occupants in the Audi convertible are judged to have been active participants in the incident, they could also face charges.

The Duke and Duchess of ­Cambridge’s office insisted it did not speak for Pippa

Even if the weapon is fake, the driver could be imprisoned for two years.

The incident came amid a heightened security alert in France after Islamic terrorist Mohammed Merah used a handgun to murder seven people in the ­country last month.

Two men were also arrested in the Paris area at the weekend in connection with four murders carried out with a pistol in the nearby Essonne department in the past five months.

Pippa, who was being driven to the Gare du Nord station to board a Eurostar high-speed train to ­London, had been in Paris to attend a lavish fancy dress party to ­celebrate the 30th birthday of Arthur de Soultrait, a Paris fashion entrepreneur.

She was among 300 guests at a Marie Antoinette-themed party, which included three dwarves serving champagne and a fire-eating brunette jumping out of a cake and performing a striptease to a “remix” of God Save The Queen.

In the gun photographs, de Soultrait can be seen sitting in the back of the Audi wearing a blue baseball cap, alongside his younger brother, Marcy, who is smiling.

But both brothers were later reported to be “mortified” by the driver’s behaviour and prepared to speak to the authorities. The man who waved the gun, meanwhile, was said to be keeping a low profile and hoping that everything would “calm down”. At the ­Middleton family home in Bucklebury, Berkshire, nobody was ­prepared to discuss the incident last night.

The Duke and Duchess of ­Cambridge’s office insisted it did not speak for Pippa and declined to comment also.

At least one witness has made a formal complaint to Paris police, providing pictures of what happened. These have been handed over to judicial police who will have to decide whether to alert an examining magistrate.

However, a ­diplomatic source last night said the French police were coming under political pressure to play the ­incident down after high-level calls from ­London.

A judicial source said: “If the ­evidence points to Pippa’s involvement, she will be prosecuted.

“Anybody involved in the illegal use of a handgun is liable to arrest.”

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